By Michael Tabb
As shortly as a decade ago, this gathering of fanboys and gals was just really breaking into the Hollywood spotlight as the mecca for comic book and genre lovers.
Since clever geek cred has become cool and the mania behind media has grown so exponentially, these conventions have popped up all around the globe from California to Abu Dhabi. Pop culture is Third World global. Story as a modern trade has exploded as one of America’s chief exports.The epic transformation from cave drawings to graphic novels and stage plays to mega blockbusters illustrates the evolution of the storytelling medium, which has always been the way a small number of people speak to their community. Now, with a helping hand of technology and mass expansion of multi-media platforms, that community is the majority of the world.
The world is smaller than ever.
Stories have always been a way in which mankind could communicate to its era’s masses, and Comic-Con is where the masses can congregate and engage with our community’s era of storytellers, face-to-face. If Shakespeare was right and, “All the world is a stage,” this is where its most beloved players can directly address its most loyal and loving of audience members. Distributors of content show their love with world exclusive take-home merchandise, being the first to get the most exciting news of what is to come in entertainment, and celebrate a pastime as old as the caveman.
Everyone knows there is one undisputed capital of visual entertainment in North America, and that is Southern California, home to Hollywood. Conventions dot SoCal’s west coast from San Francisco bay to San Diego. It is widely known the mecca of them all is the latter, an annual Comic-Con International Convention (SDCC) that I have come to call it Nerdvana.
Many industry insiders take issue with Comic-Con no longer being exclusive to comic books and graphic novels, but where would one draw the line? Comic books have been seamlessly integrated into the major movie and television studios where every media company has slowly become vertically integrated into the major conglomerate organizations. To simplify things, let’s focus on the two dominant forces in comic book culture today, Marvel and DC.
Disney now owns Marvel. That translates into The Avengers characters, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Daredevil and hit TV shows such as S.H.I.E.L.D. on their own TV subsidiary network, ABC. On the other side of the coin, DC has had a primary relationship with Warner Brothers ever since my dad was doing his best Adam West for Halloween; DC is now their subsidiary. DC staples include Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and network shows such as Arrow and the upcoming show, The Flash on their network, CW. In fact, all major studios have products that reach deep into the comic-book industry, whether Marvel’s Spider-Man and Ghost Rider franchises at Sony/Columbia Pictures, the run of Marvel’s Fantastic Four and X-Men or DC’s new show Gotham at Fox, or Marvel’s The Hulk and DC’s new show Constantine at NBC/Universal Studios.
Now, it’s not just the big two publishers selling stories and proliferating characters and intellectual properties from comics to screens big and small. Malibu Comics had Cowboys Verses Aliens and Men in Black, Caliber has The Crow, Image Comics published Spawn and Witchblade, whose creators went on to form Top Cow, responsible for Wanted. Then there’s Archie Comic’s Josie and the Pussycats, Homage/Wildstorm’s Red, Oni Press’ Scott Pilgrim, Mirage’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Dark Horse has had ongoing success with franchises including: Timecop, Hellboy, The Mask and Sin City. In short, the overlap is enormous and everywhere. My fellow Geekites, comics have been completely, vertically integrated.
Even shows like The Big Bang Theory may not be based on comic book franchises, but their characters are in love with comics as much as any avid fan. The characters within the shows attend SDCC. There’s a natural, ever-growing symbiosis between all media entertainment. They all coexist together under a single, industry-wide umbrella of visual storytelling (whether cartoons or live-action, movie theater or direct-to-DVD animation, and don’t even get me started on the games). So how can these comic book purists say games, movies and television do not belong at Comic-Con?
Comic-Con International in San Diego hosts hundreds of panels with artists and actors, where hundreds of thousands of fans congregate and cosplay their way into the world of imagination. San Diego turns into a giant party scene with events that seem to take over the entire Gaslamp District. Outside the convention hall are huge interactive promotions; some parties are open to everyone while others cater only the most exclusive, deeply connected, Hollywood insider. The security, crowds and parking are a nightmare, but if you love your fantasy, it’s so worth it. If you’re out there, you will see we do this thing all the way to infinity, beyond and back again.
Michael Tabb is an established writer, be sure to follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelTabb
